--- description: The bear was freed thanks to the local community and some quick thinking scientists. title: Polar Bear is Freed After Being Trapped in Fishnet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Biologists and Alaskan Locals Free Polar Bear Trapped By Fishnet  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 6, 2015 6:57 PM CUT  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 6, 2015 6:57 PM CUT A harrowing few hours for a polar bear trapped in a fishing net had a happy ending when biologists and locals teamed up to free the bear. The polar bear, a 1,000 pound male, was found ensnared in the net off an island in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea. Biologists from the U.S. Geological Society and U.S. Fish and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart from a helicopter. Locals from nearby Kaktovik joined the effort, using boats to buoy the bear, preventing him from drowning as the tranquilizers took effect. Biologists then worked quickly to untangle the bear. After insuring the bear had suffered no injuries, he was released to the wild. The USGS documented the incident on Facebook. Polar bears are endangered, and climate change has affected the habitats of polar bears, to the USGS, which has recently established a [Polar Bear Recovery Team](http://www.fws.gov/alaska/pbrt/ "undefined") to them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4024005/polar-bear-trapped-fishnet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4024005/polar-bear-trapped-fishnet/"},"headline":"Biologists and Alaskan Locals Free Polar Bear Trapped By Fishnet","datePublished":"2015-09-06T18:57:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:43:37.345Z","description":"The polar bear had become tangled in fishnet","url":"https://time.com/4024005/polar-bear-trapped-fishnet/","keywords":["animals","Alaska","Environment","climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4024005/polar-bear-trapped-fishnet/","name":"Biologists and Alaskan Locals Free Polar Bear Trapped By Fishnet"}}]}] ```